Gauging and sorting machine



Feb. 23, 1932. D. E. GRAY GAUGING AND SORTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed NOV. 15, 192

INVENTOR an a E. 68/? A ORNEY Feb. 23, 1932. D, E, RAY 1,846,327

GAUGING AND SORIING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15 192' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORDav/0 5.617197: B

' TTORNEYS.

Feb. 23, 1932. D. E. GRAY GAUGING AND SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15,1927 5 Sheets-Sheet I5 INYENTOR Feb. 23, 1932. D. E. GRAY 1,846,327

GAUGING AND SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15. 192' 5 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR I 90/ EG'R/IK Feb 23, 1932. D. E. GRAY 1,846,327

GAUGING AND SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 15. 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR00w f. Gm". @Q

ATT RNEYS.

- DAVID E. GRAY,

Patented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE F CORNING, NEW YORK,ASSIGNOR TO CORNING GLASS WORKS, OF CORN ING, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OFNEW YORK GAUGING AND SORTING MACHINE Application filed November 15,1927. Serial No. 233,473.

variation in an article, at the points at which LII co-acting gauge andsorting mechanisms operate, opposing forces are brought to bearthereupon, causing a jamming 0f the article, or other hindrancetoeffective operation, often with destructive effect upon thecomparatively delicate gauging and sorting mechanisms. This factorassumes great importance as regards glass tubing and cane, since thesearticles are subject to diametrical variations due to the drawingoperations by which they are produced.

When gauging articles of glass or other fragile material breakage isalso involved,

hence in handling such articles positively acting operating members,such as fixed gauges, grippers and ejectors, which move into and out ofcontact with the tubing with a jar or pressure, are especiallyobjectionable, because they are apt to inducefracture and inaccurategauging.

in one aspect the invention embodies a travelling carrier by whicharticles are conveyed in succession along continuous gauge bars to gaugemembers which cooperate with yieldable portions of the gauge bars toform gauges. When the articles encounter a gauge which obstructs theirfree movement they are arrested and held between the gauge members andyieldable portions of the gauge bars, and are automatically unloadedfrom the carrier. The articles which pass one'set of gauges aresuccessively presented to other sets of gauges until they reach gaugeswhich arrest them. Release of the arrested articles is effected byretracting the yieldable portion of each gauge bar prior to thepresentation of the next article to that set of gauges, whereupon thearrested article falls upon check fingers and is directed thereby into areceptacle provided for articles of its size.

The primary object of the present invention 15 to rapidly and accuratelysort cylindricalarticles, such as tubes and rods.

Another object of the present invention is to automatically sort fragilearticles by diameter without breakage.

A feature of prime importance in this invention is the smooth, rapidtransfer of articles along one of the gauge elements, and the absence ofmechanism which is likely to induce violent shocks, rebound, or otherhindrance to accurate gauging.

Another important feature is the rugged construction of the gaugemechanism, and the elimination of delicate parts without the sacrificeof accuracy.

The above and other objects may be attained by the use of my invention,one embodiment of which is described and claimed with the carrier chainsand associated mecha-' nism removed; c

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of the lower portions of themachine;

Fig. 4' is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

v Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.2;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3showing the oper-' ation of the resetting mechanism on a greatlyenlarged scale. 1

Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse vertical section taken on the line 77of Fig. 4, showing one of the gauging mechanisms;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig.4,showing the counterbalancing mechanism for maintaining the tube carriersin proper position;

Fig, 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the resetting mechanismfor the article carriers taken on the'line 99 of Fig.4;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of one ofthe bracketssupporting one of the gauge fingers; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the front face of one of thegauge bars.

Frame Referring to the drawings in detail, a bed 10 is provided atopposite ends with standards 11, the upper ends of which are rigidlyconnected by a transversely extending bar 12.

Extending rearwardly from the upper and lower ends of the standards 11are arms 13 and 14 respectively, carrying hearings in which oppositeendsof a pair of shafts 15 and 16 are journalled. A drive sprocket 17 issecured near one end of the shaft 15, for cooperation with a drive chain18, which in turn is connected by means of a suitable gearing 19 with aprime mover, such as an electric motor 20 fixed to the bed 10.

Secured to the upper ends of the standards 11 are inwardly extendingbrackets 21, which are bifurcated as at 22 to receive the upper ends ofthe gauge bars 23, which are held therein by means of adjustableclamping screws 24. The lower ends of these gauge bars are secured byclamping screws 25 to the bifurcated brackets 26 which are secured tothe bed 10. As illustrated, these gauge bars are inclined to thevertical so that articles traversing them will lie in close contacttherewith and their angular position as well as their location relativeto shafts 15 and 16 may be altered by adjusting the clamping screws 24and 25.

Extending inwardly from the standards 11, intermediate their upper andlower ends, are brackets 27, at the inner ends of which are heads 28,which .lie directly in front of, and in spaced parallel relation to thegauge bars 23 to form upwardly and rearwardly inclined passages for thetravel of the articles to be sorted. Secured to the upper faces of theheads 28 are forwardly and downwardly extending plates 29, provided withstops 30. which together form racks in which the sorted articles arecollected according to diameter;

1 Oarrz'age mechanism Secured near opposite ends of the shafts 15andldare sprocket wheels 31 and 32, re spectively, provided withsprocket chains 33 and 34, so that upon transmitting rotary movement tothe shaft 15 by the motor 20, both shafts andtheir associated mechanismwill move in unison.

Certain links of each chain are provided with guide plates 35, thelateral edges of which ride in grooves 36 (Fig. 4), formed in trackerplates 37, carried by the inner faces of the gauge bars 23. The guideplates 35, which are secured to opposite chains, are rigidly connectedby tie bars 39 which move in spaced parallel relation tothe axes ofshafts 15 and 16. Brackets 40 are secured to the guide plates 35, androtatably mounted therein are shafts 41, adjacent opposite ends preventinterference between the brackets, as

they are inverted in passing around the sprockets 31, the brackets onadjacent tic bars are mounted near opposite ends thereof. The forwardends of the trip levers are bifurcated and partially embrace the tiebars as shown, thus restricting their rocking movement. Lugs.47 projectforwardly from the lower edges of the trip levers and carry ad justablepins 48, which project upwardly for engagement with cooperating pins 49carried by the shaft 41. When the carriers 42 are in normal position,the pins'49 rest on the upper ends of the pins 48 in such a manner thatwhen excess pressure is brought upon the seats 43 of the carriers 42,the shaft 41 will rock and the lugs 47 will move downwardly, against theinfluence of the counter weight 46, and trip lever 45, thereby causingthe pins 49 to pass behind the pins 48 and permit the seats and theirassociated mechanism to fall to unloading position. Thus the carrierswill unload their contents, and will remain in unloading position untilreset.

The return of the seats 43 to article carrying position is effectedpartially by gravity and partially by the resetting mechanism to be morefully described hereinafter. The gravity operation is as follows: Whenthe crest of the upward movement of the carriers 42 is reached and theystart to descend, their positions are reversed, and the force of gravitywill cause the counterweights to fall.

,L'Thus pins 48 are retracted so as to clear the pins 49 and to permitthe shafts 41 to rotate, and to return the carriers 42 and seats 43, toarticle carrying position.

To assure the restoration of the carriers to article carrying position,I provide a resetting mechanism such as that illustrated in detail inFig. 9. This includes a pair of brackets 50 which are secured to andproject rearwardly from each tie bar 39. Pivoted at 51 between thebrackets 50 is a lever 52 whose movement in one direction is limited bya stop pin 53. I This lever projects rearwardly to such an extent thatit will fall by gravity about its pivot, and projecting from the forwardend of the lever 52 in an upwardly inclined position is a. relativelylight finger lli) 54. A plate 55, fixed to the shaft 41 in longitudinalalignment with the lever, projects upwardly and rearwardly andterminates in a downwardly curved portion 56. This is recessed laterallyto accommodate the finger- 54 which, when the lever upon inversion fallsinto the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9, engages the endwall 57 ofthe recess and causes the shaft 41 to rotate in its bearings and movethe carriers 42 and seats 43 into article engaging position. Thismovement of the lever 52 takes place upon inversion of the carriers 42when they reach the crest of their upward movement and start theirdescent. 1

In order to permit the pinsv 48 to resume article carrier supportingposition, before the release of the resetting mechanism, the levers 52of the latter, when inverted, assume a markedly oblique position withrelation to the radii of the sprocket wheels 31 and 32 (Figs. 1 and 6).This throws their centers of gravity out of radial alignment with theshaft 16 so that the fingers 54 cannot disengage the end walls 57 untilthey have travelled well past the vertical (Fig. 6). In the meantime thetrip levers 45 will have fallen, thus bringing the pins 48 into positionto engage the pins 49 and support the carriers.

Article feeding mechanism Briefly, it consists of a magazine (Fig. 1)

comprised of upwardly and forwardly incl ned rails 58 which areconnected to the ma chine by a suitable transversely extending rod 59supported by standards 11; Secured to the inner s des of the standards11 near their lower ends are plates 60 and 61 (Fig.

3), the upper ends of which are bifurcated as at 62 to receive bearingblocks 63 in which the feed roll supporting shaft 64 is journalled.Secured in spaced relation on said shaft 64 are notched feed rolls 65whichselect the articles and deliver one at a time onto the guidemembers 66 which incline downwardly and inwardly toward the machine.These guide members extend inwardly beyond the front faces of the gaugebars 23 so that the articles delivered thereon will move by gravity intocontact with the said gauge bars, where they remain until picked up bythe seats 43 of the carriers 42.

Extending inwardly from the plate 60 are studs 68 and 69 upon whichpinions 70 and 71 are rotatably mounted. The hub of the pinto the shaft64 for meshing engagement with the pinion 70.

Selecting mechanism Adj ustably secured to the inner face of each head28 is a gauge finger 7 5 provided at its rearmost end with a gauge point76 and a guard 77. The opposite end of the gauge Pivotally secured tothe inner face of each 7 head 28 adjacent its upper rear corner is acheck finger 80 which is bifurcated as at 81 to form a pair of legs 82for engagement with v a stop pin 83.

Pivotally mounted on the rear face of each gauge bar 23 are bell cranklevers 84, the longer arms of which extend rearwardly and are pivoted at85 to push rods 86. The shorter arms of the levers are disposed upwardlyand are apertured to receive the reduced threaded stems 87 of push pins88. The latter operate through spaced parallel apertures 89 in the gaugebars 23 in a man ner to be more fully described herinaftcr. Extendinginto the gauge bars 23 from the rear faces thereof, and in axialalignment with the apertures 89, are recesses 90 for the reception ofcompression coiled springs 91, the inner ends of which bear againstheads 92formed on the push pins 88 while their outer ends bear againstthreaded bushings 93. As indicated in Figs. 6 and 7 the forward ends ofpins 88 are yieldingly projected into the plane of the front faces ofthe gauge bars 23 beyond the bottom faces of transverse grooves 94 toprovide smooth uninterrupted gauge surfaces.

Simultaneous retraction of the pins 88 is effected by cam wheels 95which are secured near opposite ends of the shaft 15 and are providedwith teeth 96. The latter engage Operation The tubes or cane to begauged, are placed in the magazine formed by the rails 58. Moving gentlydown the inclined rails they engag'ethe feed rolls 65 and aresuccessively selected by the notches in said rolls, and delivered ontothe guide members 66, upon.

which they travel rearwardly until they con tact with the gauge bars 23.i In this position they lie directly in the path pf travel of the seats43 of the carriers 42 and are thereby carried along the gauge'barstoward the gauges.

The articles pass between the heads 28 and the gauge bars 23, and liftthe check fingers 80 which fallback to normal passage closing on theseats 43 which support this article, and

y an

rotates the corresponding carriers 42 together with their respectiveshaft 41. This causes pin 49 to exert pressure on the pin 48 and move itaway from the pin 49 against the influence of the counterweight 46, thusallowing shaft 41 to rotate until the seats 43 drop within theoutline-ofthe guide bars 23 and unload the articles.

To release an article which may have become wedged, the push pins areautomatical- Iyretracted by engagement of one of the teeth 96 on the camwheel 95 with the roller 97, which intermittently depresses the roller97 immediately after the seats 43 pass the gauge points 76 and beforethe next succeeding seats move far enough to bring articles resting,thereon into engagement with the check fingers 80. Depression of therollers 97 lowers the push rods 86 thus rocking the bell crank. levers84 to move their shorter arms away from the guide bars 23 and retractthe,

push pins 88 against the influence of their respective springs 91. Suchretraction is only momentary, but releases the arrested article andpermits it to fall upon the check fingers 80 which direct "it onto itsproper rack formed by the plates 29.

The machine will function even when articles are not of uniform diameterthroughout their length. Glass tubing for instance will frequently taperfrom one end to another, and

in such event the larger end will be arrested by one of a pair ofaligned gauges whereas the smaller end will. pass through. When thishappens considerable difiiculty is likely to be experienced unless thesmaller end of the article quickly finds its way-back below the gaugepoint. By the retraction of the push pin immediately after the arrest ofthe article, not only its larger end is actually released but itssmaller end is enabled to quick- 1y descend onto the propercheck fingersso that complete release of the article from the gauge is efl'ectedbefore the next successive article is presented.

Articles whichare not arrested by oneset of gauges continue along thegauge bars on their respective carriers and are presented to additionalsets of gauges which progressively decrease in size. Articles of suchsmall diameter as to passall of the gauges without being arrested willeventually be dischargfd from their respective carriers into a suita 1ereceptacle by contact with cams 103, which fire secured near the upperends of the gauge ars. a

Adjustment of the machine, to gauge articles of widely varying diametersmay e made by advancing or retracting the gauge fingers 75. A stillgreater range of variation is possible by altering the position of thebars 23 by adjustment of the clamping screws 24 and 25. Gauging isaccomplished within very close limits, yet with great rapidity and aminimum of breakage. Numerous variations and alterations of structureare possible without destroying the functions described and illustrated,and changes in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resortedto within-the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit of the invention.

By the term unload as used herein I mean the release of articles by thearticle advancing means, but to avoid confusion with the release of thearticles which have been arrested by the gauges I prefer to call the.first mentioned operation unloading and the other operation releasing.

I claim:

1. A sorting machine which includes a gauge bar along which articles areadvanced against the force of gravity,.a gauge finger cooperating withthe gauge bar in arresting articles of or above a predetermined size andmeans for advancing articles along the gauge bar against the force ofgravity toward the gauge finger. J

2. A sorting machine according to claim 1 in which arrested articles areretained between the gauge bar and gauge fingers against the force ofgravity.

3. A sorting machine according to claim 1 in which means carried by thegauge bar release arrested articles and means associated with the gaugebar direct released articles into suitable receptacles. v y

4. A sorting machine which includes a gauge bar along which articles areadvanced against the force of gravity, a gauge finger cooperating withthe gauge bar in arresting articles of or above a predetermined size andmeans for advancing articles along the gauge bar against the force ofgravity toward the gauge finger and means carried by the gauge bar torelease arrested articlesand means associated with the gauge bar todirect released an article, and a unitary means for advancing an articleinto the gauges and for unloading said article if resistance is offeredto its passage through any one of the gauges.

6. A sorting machine which includes gauges arranged in spaced relation,and means for presenting an article for contact with said gaugessimultaneously, said means automatically unloading said article shouldany part thereof fail to pass a gauge.

7. A sorting machine which includes spaced gauges of uniform size forsimultaneously gauging an article and an article carrier for advancingan article into said gauges and unloading it should any part thereoffail to pass through any of said gauges.

8. A sorting machine which includes article advancing means, a gauge,means for moving said article advancing means to advance an articlesupported thereon into the gauge, and means normally maintaining saidarticle advancing means in article carrying position, said last namedmeans being adapted to permit the unloading of an article from theadvancing means when the article resists passage through said gauge.

9. A sorting machine which includes article advancing means, a gauge,means for moving said article advancing means to ad vance an articlethereon into said gauge, and means normally supporting said advancingmeans in article carrying position against the force ofgravity, saidlast named means being displaceable by the resistance of an article topassage through the gauge and permitt ng withdrawal of the advancingmeans form carrying position.

10. A sorting machine which includes article supporting means, a gauge,meansfor moving said article supporting means 1nto said gauge, yieldablemeans for maintaining said article supporting means in article carryingposition, and a receptacle associated with said gauge for receivingarticles which fail to pass therethrough, said yleldable means beingoperable by the resistance of an article to passage through said gauge,and thus permitting delivery of an article into said receptacle.

11. A sorting machine which includes a series of gauges progressivelydecreasing in size, a receiving compartment associated with each gaugefor receiving articles ofequal or greater size than the gauge, anarticle carrier for advancing articles to successive gauges until one isreached whose size is equal to or smaller than that of the article,whereupon the resistance of the gauge to the passage of the articletherethrough causes the article carrier to continue its travel withoutthe article, and means for delivering the article to the correspondingreceiving compartment.

12. A sorting machine which includes a continuous gauge member adaptedto be traversed by articles to be gauged, and means cooperatingtherewith to define a gauge for arresting articles of predeterminedsize.

13. A sorting machine which includes a continous gauge member adapted tobe traversed by articles to be gauged, means coopcrating therewith tod-eiine a gauge for arresting articles of predetermined size, and meansfor advancing articles toward the gauge by moving them in continuouscontact with the gauge member.

14. A sorting machine which includes a member presenting "a normallycontinuous surface, a series of spaced members in opposed relation tosaid surface and defining therewith a series of gauges for arresting articles of predetermined sizes, a movable article carrier for advancingthe articles into said gauges, and means for moving said articlecarrier; said article carrier being so positioned with respect to saidnormally continuous surface that an article Will be in substantiallycontinuous contact therewith during its travel. i

15. A sorting machine which includes gauge members each having recessesin one face, yieldable members aligned with the re cesses and normallylying in a plane with the faces of the gauge members, gauge elements inspaced relation to the gauge members, the critical points of said gaugeelements arranged in opposed relation to the yieldable members anddefining therewith a series of gauges, means for advancing articlesalong the gauge members into the gauges and for causing articlesexceeding predetermined sizes to be held in the gauges, and means forretracting the yieldable members to release articles from the gauges.

16. A. sorting machine which includesarticle advancing means, means forarresting articles carried thereby, the'article advancing means beingdisplaceable to unload an article when the latter is arrested and leaveit suspended in the arresting means, and means for restoring theadvancing means to article carrying position.

17. A sorting machine which includes article' advancing means, means forarresting articles carried thereby, yieldable means normally holding theadvancing means in article carrying position but being displaceable uponthe arrest of an article to permit movement of the advancing means fromarticle carrying position, and means for restoring the advancing meansto article carrying position.

18. A sorting machine which includes article advancing means, means forarresting articles carried thereby, yieldable means normally holding thearticle advancing means in article carrying position but beingdisplaceable upon the arrest of an article to permit movement of theadvancing means from article carrying position, and means for restoringthe advancing means to article carrying position, the latter'beingwithdrawn from contact with the advancing means after the yieldablemeans returns to holding osition.

19. A sorting machine which .mcludes a gauge for arrestin articles'ofpredetermined size, means for a vancing articles into the gauge, andmeans for releasing an arrested article by permitting it to move out ofthe gauge in a direction opposite its advancing movement.

DAVID E. GRAY.

